Berlin's top development officer quits

The top city development official in financially struggling Berlin has said he is stepping down from his post amid allegations that he may have acted illegally in getting an ambitious event hall up and running.

Peter Strieder, 51, has been under investigation by prosecutors for possible charges of breach of trust for allegedly continuing to pour funds into the loss making Tempodrom.

The decision to step down “has become inescapable, to avoid further harm to Berlin, my party … and also myself”, Strieder said last night. “My resignation is not an admission of guilt. I am convinced that prosecutors will drop the investigation.”

In October 2002, a Berlin bank at which Strieder had decision-making powers granted a €1.74m subsidy to the struggling private foundation building the Tempodrom hall, which opened in 2001 near where the Berlin Wall used to run.